The harbour in Kyrenia, Girene, Northern Cyprus
Cyprus,  Europe,  History,  Independent travel,  Travel Blog

Into The Northern Half Of Cyprus

October 15, 2023 /

So here we are in the northern half of this partitioned country, in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a self-declared independent nation recognised as such only by Turkey itself. The region is accepted by the UN as not being under the control of the Cypriot Government; Cyprus is the only EU country with a section not governed by that organisation’s laws. Despite loosening of controls on the partition line, there are still restrictions in place, which is how we come to be in our current situation.

Kyrenia, Girne, Northern Cyprus
Girne aka Kyrenia

You see, we had the very good idea that it would be interesting to travel through the two separate halves of Cyprus, to see for ourselves just what the differences are between the Turkish bit and the Greek bit. Is it like moving from Turkey to Greece or is there some kind of merging of cultures? All of our research told us that crossing the “Green Line”, the partition and boundary between the two halves, is now easy, and is permitted on multiple occasions. All good.

Kyrenia, Girne, Northern Cyprus
Streets of Girne

Well, all good until a few days before we travel, when a little piece of small print which we’d previously missed, hits us between the eyes. Although crossing back and forth is fine, it turns out that the official Greek Cypriot authorities do not recognise the airport on the Turkish side as a legitimate point of entry – in fact, by coming in that route, one is considered to have entered Cyprus illegally. Guess which route we’re entering by. Correct. 

Kyrenia, Girne, Northern Cyprus
Cafe in Girne old town

Technically therefore, and in the eyes of the Cypriot Government, we are in the country illegally, but, as long as we stay on the Turkish side and don’t cross the Green Line, they can’t get at us to do anything about it. Thus, our stay on Cyprus will now have to be limited to the Turkish side only.

Our route to here is Casablanca to Istanbul to Ercan/Lefkosa, the “illegal” airport, with an overnight stay at an airport hotel in Istanbul, and, as our flights are in and out of Sabiha Gökcen rather than Ataturk, it means we set foot in three different continents in under 24 hours, not something one does too often.

Kyrenia, Girne, Northern Cyprus
Kyrenia, Girne, Northern Cyprus
Girne old town

We land in torrential rain as a storm passes across the island but with an hour to kill till the next bus, the wide puddles are glinting in the afternoon sunshine by the time we’re on the road. The bus journey from the illegal point of entry to our first Cyprus base passes through towns which are undeniably Turkish in appearance, there is certainly at first glance no hint of dilution of Turkish culture – apart from how odd it looks to see traffic driving on the left in a country such as this, a legacy of course of a stretch of 82 years of British rule which incorporated the advent of the motor car.

Kyrenia, Girne, Northern Cyprus
Well kept minaret
Kyrenia, Girne, Northern Cyprus
Church left to decay

Everywhere here has two names, one Turkish and one Greek. Our base is the coastal town of Girne, Greek name Kyrenia; the capital we all know as Nicosia is Lefkosa in Turkish; the famed town of Famagusta is Gazimagusa, but other than that there is no trace of Greece here, this is very obviously Turkish on every level – which means, amongst other things, great food.

Harbour in Kyrenia, Girne, Northern Cyprus
Girne’s closed harbour cafes
Harbour in Kyrenia, Girne, Northern Cyprus
Girne harbour

Girne is certainly a pleasant enough town, gathered around a picturesque horseshoe shaped harbour which is, according to all the photos we saw, lined with great fish restaurants. Unfortunately though the whole harbour is closed for a facelift and every restaurant is out of action – but, despite that, Girne still has plenty to offer. There’s a fair smattering of British expats here but it’s a pleasant calm town, with its castle overlooking the harbour and plenty of good authentic Turkish eateries. It also feels very good to have the space of our own apartment again after the riads and small hotels of Morocco.

Harbour in Kyrenia, Girne, Northern Cyprus
Girne harbour
Harbour in Kyrenia, Girne, Northern Cyprus
Girne harbour

It’s hard to convince ourselves that we’re not in Turkey, so similar is this town to Turkish towns and so strong are the reminders of our previous tours there. There’s no recognition of Cyprus here – the flags are those of the unofficial Turkish Republic of North Cyprus, and of Turkey itself – and everything about this place is simply typical of that country. Indeed, we haven’t yet seen a single Cyprus flag.

Statue in Kyrenia, Girne, Northern Cyprus
Statue in Kyrenia, Girne, Northern Cyprus
Statues of Girne

Being so Turkish, there are, inevitably, hamams here, so of course we have to indulge and spend a couple of hours in a little corner of heaven, being in turn boiled, scraped, soaped and massaged. We also indulge in a boat trip along the coast, providing the welcome opportunity to dive into the beautifully clear waters of the blue Mediterranean, our first dip in its waters since Spain. Another storm breaks as we walk “home” from the boat and we probably get just as wet in the torrential rain as we did in the sea, but this time fully clothed.

Ottoman cemetery in Kyrenia, Girne, Northern Cyprus
Ottoman cemetery

To come back to the political situation, Cyprus is an independent country with a fixed border down its core, with on one side a de facto separate country recognised as such only by Turkey, yet supposedly a single Government in charge of the nation and internationally recognised. A Government which has little or no control over a large sector of its own country. How did we get here? Well, briefly….

Cyprus was handed to Britain as a thank you gift by the Ottoman Empire in return for a pledge by the British that we would assist the Ottomans in their defence against any future invasion by the Russians. Cyprus remained under British rule and part of the Commonwealth until independence was granted in 1960, but this independence failed to prevent in-fighting between the Greek and Turk factions on the island. Fourteen years later in 1974, the Greek military made an attempt to achieve “enosis”, the integration of Cyprus into Greece, overthrowing the Cypriot president and installing a military junta. Given that the population of the island is part Greek part Turkish, the Turks understandably took exception to this and sent in the troops.

Castle in Kyrenia, Girne, Northern Cyprus
Girne castle

After a period of warfare, the uneasy solution was the “Green Line”, making Cyprus the only partitioned nation in Europe and Nicosia/Lefkosa the only partitioned city. This partition, and its narrow demilitarised “buffer zone”, is marshalled by the armed forces of Britain, Argentina and Slovakia acting as UN peacekeeping forces. Displacement on a large scale was one of the ramifications of this solution, with both Greek and Turkish Cypriots relocated from their home to their newly allocated “half”. Even today it’s not without tension: the most recent attempt at reunification met with a 2 to 1 vote in favour on the Turkish side but a 3 to 1 rejection by Greek Cypriots. 

Inside the castle in Kyrenia, Girne, Northern Cyprus
Girne castle
View from the top of the castle in Kyrenia, Girne, Northern Cyprus
Girne castle and harbour

As recently as two months before our arrival there were demonstrations and instances of sporadic violence; it seems those UN peacekeeping forces won’t be packing their bags just yet.

Unfortunately, due to entering Cyprus the way that we did, we won’t be able to explore each side of the divide and make those comparisons between the two halves. In the meantime there’s absolutely no disputing the overriding influences here: this looks, feels and behaves like Turkey.

Apart from driving on the left.

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